A Garden of Roses
by Enchanted Daisy
Summary: [RaexRob] She was alone and institutionalized. Only one achingly familiar doctor could help her...
1. The Awakening

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A/N: All right, this is my first ever Teen Titans fanfiction. Amidst all the admitted crap on Cartoon Network nowadays, Teen Titans is not bad. It's pseudo-anime but it sure beats the pants off Code: Lyoko and all…no offense to people who like Code: Lyoko and Totally Spies…Anyway.

Summary: Raven wakes up one day to find herself all alone. Worse still, no one believes her about the Teen Titans! She's put into a mental institution and there she meets a team of doctors, nurses and assistants that seem achingly familiar…. Raven x Robin

A Garden of Roses

Chapter 1: Awakening

There used to be a greying tower alone on the see

You became the light on the dark side of me

Love remained a drug that's the high not the pill

But did you know? That when it snows, my eyes become larger and the light that you shine can be seen.

Kiss From A Rose, Seal

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

She jolted awake, soaked with sweat. Lately, she'd been having dreams in which she saw herself being murdered…

Raven got out of bed, still shaking slightly, wrapping her cloak around her. She thought to wash her face, drink some water, to calm herself. But as her eyes adjusted to her dark surroundings, she realized something.

Raven was no longer in Titan Tower.

"Now…I remember," Raven said softly to herself. She sank back down on her bed. She did remember. She knew where she was now: St Agnes's Institute. The finest mental institution in Jump City.

From the outside, St Agnes's could pass for an exclusive boarding school. An old building made entirely of brick, ivy creeped along its walls and gave the place a venerable look. The attached chapel still had stained glass windows and the small garden plot was neat and well-manicured.

Looking out over the chapel, lit dimly by streetlights, Raven felt the new anger surge up inside her. She shouldn't be here! She was as sane as anybody else! And why did the Titans desert her and leave her alone? Why was there no Titan Tower? And why, oh _why_ didn't anyone believe her about the Teen Titans?

* * *

She had woken up a few days ago to find herself utterly alone. The bright morning sunlight assaulted her as she realized suddenly she was sleeping outside, on the hill on which Titan Tower should rightfully have sat. But there was no trademark T, no Starfire or Cyborg or Beast Boy. Not even…Robin….

She had almost screamed when she found out her powers were gone. No magic. No defense, no scrying. Nothing. A few people looked at her strangely, the petite, slim figure encased in a cloak and hood, but no one showed signs of recognizing the withdrawn Titan. And so, resigning herself, Raven had shown up at the police department.

"Do you know where the Titans are?" she asked them.

They had looked at her in amazement. One asked who they were. She explained to them, recounted every instance where the Titans had saved Jump City. The police officers shook their heads, asked her if it was a dream. She had shaken her head no, no, no! Why did no one believe her?

The only advantage to losing her powers, so Raven thought, was that she could get as emotional as she wanted with no ill effects. And she took advantage of the fact, asking them why they pretended they didn't know the Titans. How many times had the Titans defeated villians the police could barely dream of taking down? How many times had the Teen Titans come to the defense of the city they loved…of the city that loved them?

But then in the middle of her tirade she was seized from behind by two sets of strong arms and she felt the sharp sting of a needle as it entered her upper arm. Raven was being dragged out of the police station, dumped into a plushy van, and she wanted to know what the hell was going on but her vision was going fuzzy…and before she knew it the world around her spun and all went black.

When she came to, she found she was inside a small room with padded walls and a white bed. "Where _am_ I?" she muttered, but no one answered. "Where _AM _I?" she said again, louder and louder until finally her voice rose in a screaming crescendo and sobs ripped from her throat and tears made their furious way down her face.

It was the first time in years Raven cried, and she let the burning tears fall and be absorbed into the white sheets of her bed. Why was she alone again? She had finally come to consider her four teammates friends and they had all deserted her…betrayed her….She felt a red-hot anger flood her and she searched in vain for something to throw or break. Instead she just screamed his name.

"ROBIN! RRRROOOOOOBBBBBBIIIIIIN!" she yelled. The cries brought not Robin but two brutish-looking orderlies dressed in white. They came to her, picked her up not-so-gently, and brought her into a room where a man sat behind a desk. The two men strapped her down to her hard wooden chair so she couldn't escape.

"So," the man behind the desk said. "You are at St Agnes's Institute. What is your name?" He spoke slowly, as if addressing a particularly slow child.

"Raven," the dark girl muttered.

"Raven," the man repeated blankly. "Any last name?"

"No," Raven shot back. "I'm…from somewhere else."

The man nodded understandingly. He thought she meant she had emigrated from some other country. "Now, Raven," he said kindly, "why don't you tell me what's wrong."

She resented his condescending attitude and gave him the least amount of information necessary. He raised his eyebrows several times and was scribbling furiously on a notepad, but he said nothing.

"Well," he said, "that's quite the story. Now, I think we'll keep you here for some time, okay?"

"No, it's not okay," Raven said. "Why do I have to be here? Do you know what happened to the Titans? Team Titan? We used to call ourselves the Teen Titans but then…we grew out of our teens." The words came from her mouth unexpectedly. Desperation had reduced her to this quivering mess that spoke readily and was overly verbose.

"I'll ask around," the man promised, but Raven knew he wouldn't.

"Is this really Jump City?" she asked him finally.

"Yes, it is," he answered, looking relieved, as though this crazy girl was lucid enough to know where she was.

"Then…then why isn't anything the way it should be?" she said softly, more to herself than to anyone else. The man behind the desk was looking alarmed that she was talking to herself and pressed a button on his intercom, muttering something. Within moments the two huge orderlies came and picked Raven up.

Raven hadn't the heart, the strength, to resist. It was her second day alone and she was in an insane asylum. To top it off, absolutely no one believed her about the Titans.

* * *

Now, awake in the middle of the night, Raven felt her throat burn, a sensation that was all too familiar to her by now. She resisted crying though. She kept the tears from falling, but she willingly let the bitter screams erupt from her. Now that she wasn't chained down from feeling her emotions, she indulged in her anger more than she ever had before.

Unexepctedly her mind wandered and she was taken back to a scene that, by all rights, had happened only a few days ago…

* * *

"Raven." The deep, strong voice was a quiet murmur in her ear and she turned, startled in spite of herself. She allowed a small smile to seize her face before she carefully composed it to its usual stoniness.

"Robin," she responded. She let no emotion show through her voice. But her pulse was racing and she could feel his breath on her neck…his hand had crept around her waist and he pulled her down with him as he collapsed on the couch.

"You know…" Robin said. His breathing was coming a little heavier now and Raven knew what he expected.

"And you_ know I can't," Raven had replied, although she wished more than ever that it weren't so._

"I won't be denied, Raven," Robin said, his voice low. "You've kept me away for too long." His hands were clasped at her back now and she could feel his arms shaking from control. It made her feel…good…to realise that he was aching to rip her clothes off and satisfy himself. With her.

But she also knew the risks, and she couldn't let her emotions creep that high. She knew that Robin was fully aware of the facts but his passion, his needs, completely overrode his sense.

Robin had then leant in, pulled her even closer for a deeply passionate kiss. That was as far as Raven would—could-- let him go.

Showing prodigal strength, Raven wrenched herself from Robin's firm arms and looked him straight in the eye, her eyes regretful. "Robin, you know…" she didn't complete the sentence. You know I want this as much as you do,_ she wanted to say. But she couldn't, and she didn't._

And then she had walked away.

* * *

Raven wanted to see Robin more than anyone else in the world right now. She didn't know what she would say to him, or what she would do. At this point, Raven felt ready to rip him limb for limb for leaving her alone.

On the other hand, she thought, she might pull a Starfire and fling herself on him, happy to be reunited with her…friends.

"I will not think about you any longer," Raven said out loud, thinking of Robin. "I will not think of you any longer. I will not think of you any longer." She repeated the words, willing herself to wash her mind of Robin.

It didn't work.

She would be satisfied with any member of the team. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire…any familiar face would be welcome to her. But she was still angry. She was, more than anything, hurt. After so many long years together, she thought the Titans had become a real family and Raven had let down her defenses a little and had accepted that. She didn't expect them to leave her. Alone. Again.

It wasn't characteristic of Raven to feel sorry for herself, but the circumstances had left her conscious doing a one-eighty on her. Now all she could think of was how to get back together with the Titans. And how they had abandoned her.

Raven was also angry at herself. She hated feeling so pathetic but she couldn't control it. Emotions raged inside her, waging constant battle. Sometimes anger won; other times, it was pity and despair and one emotion that she was afraid to name. But one thing was for sure: She was no longer the ice-cold Raven she used to be.

* * *

"Have you had a tough day, Dr Robin?" came a cheery voice.

Robin grimaced inwardly as a pair of bright green eyes stared right at him. "Yes, Star, I've had a tough day," he told the nurse. It was almost midnight and he was just now getting out of St Agnes's.

"Perhaps you should drink a cup of coffee," the other girl said. She thrust a steaming pot into his hands, burning them.

"YEOW!" Robin yelled, dropping the pot. "Star…when you give a person coffee, you're supposed to pour it in a mug or something!" Star was sweet and good-natured, but rather simple, Robin thought.

Star gasped. "I am sorry…very sorry!" she said. "Dr Robin, come to my office and I shall put bandages on your burnt appendage."

"You know what Star…thanks, but no thanks," Robin replied. _So that's why she gave me the entire pot,_ Robin thought. _If I were hurt, she'd have an excuse to spend time with me._

"Good night," Robin said, before Star could say anything else. He left quickly, locating his trim motorbike and driving over the dark roads.

A new case had come in yesterday. He had seen the girl's face…she was so dark. Her eyes, which seemed to shine violet, were haunted and hollow. Even her hair seemed to have purple highlights. And something about her face caught him. It wasn't just her beauty. It was the quality of her beauty…so dark and tragic. Robin wondered what had happened to her to make her so haunted. He had resolved then to take care of her personally, be her doctor.

The reason he had become a psychiatrist was because the human mind fascinated him. It was so delicate, but so strong, controlling all the human body did. And then when it went wrong…Robin wanted to fix it. It had been his life's dream to be a psychiatrist. Graduating a year early from high school, he had gone through a seven-year medical program and done his residency and internship in the Psych ward of Jump City General Hospital.

He'd seen a lot of loonies in his time there, some dangerous, many criminals. He'd helped to treat schizophrenics, those contemplating suicide, some obsessive-compulsives, and many clinically depressed. But no one had caught his attention than the girl with violet eyes who was staring out at him from her window.

She looked oddly familiar, though Robin could swear he had never seen her before. It itched at the back of his mind, persistent. He was very good with names, faces, and dates, and so sure of this ability that it was preposterous to think he might have actually forgotten. _But how could I forget a girl with violet eyes?_ he thought to himself.

He pulled off his shirt and pants and replaced them with pyjamas. It was getting too cold not to wear them. Besides, these warm, worn flannel ones were his favorites.

Robin climbed into bed, switching off the light and pulling the comforter more securely around him. He blinked up at the cool, dark, impersonal ceiling for a minute or so before closing them and relaxing.

Tomorrow…I will become that girl's doctor…

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

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A/N: Okay…so what did you all think? This will be a very short story with very sporadic updates because of how much schoolwork I have! –dies-

Right. Beast Boy and Raven will put in an appearance next chapter…and so will all the supporting characters of Teen Titans. Of course, Rae x Rob, Starfire x Aqua Lad?? Just kidding. Rae x Rob is the One True Pairing!


	2. The Meeting

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A/N: Even though it's an AU, I'm using the characters' Titan names (with some exceptions…) because I don't know the original names of the characters, having until…about five minutes ago not even being aware they had other names, and that there was a Teen Titans comic book.

A Garden of Roses

Chapter 2: The Meeting

Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me

You don't know how you got here—you just want out

Believing in yourself  
Almost as much as you doubt…

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me: U2

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Robin awoke promptly the next morning at 5:01 on the dot, without the help of an alarm clock. He made no fuss about getting up, simply opening his eyes and carefully untangling himself from his comforter. Changing from his comfy pyjamas into a sleeveless shirt and shorts, he made his way down to the garage he converted to a mini-gym, stopping only to brush his teeth.

It was a chilly morning, as well it should be in the middle of October. Robin shivered slightly, scantly dressed as he was, but he knew that his ensuing workout would be more than sufficient to raise his body temperature.

Robin was an excellent fighter. He had trained in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean martial arts, mastering Taekwon Do and achieving a fifth degree in Kung Fu. But he didn't fight, didn't work out, just because he had black belts. It was an intrinsic part of him now, the fighting, and he did it for himself. Plus, it was great stress relief (though he was not often stressed at five o' clock in the morning). This morning, the sky still dark and only the lonely chirping of a few straggling birds, Robin was still thinking about the mysterious girl.

But he shook his head, aiming a perfectly centred sidekick to a kicking bag. _I can't be obsessing over every new case at St Agnes's,_ he admonished himself. _She's probably just another one of those who are contemplating suicide._ The generalisation was unfair, he knew: He shouldn't judge people on the way they dress. But this dismissal was at least enough for him to push the girl almost completely out of his mind, and instead concentrate on himself.

…

Although she didn't need to anymore, Raven sat perfectly still, meditating. She held on to the simple chant as she would a blanket, the three simple words _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos_ the last thread of her old life.

Raven sighed, coming back to the real world. It was still very early—the sky had just begun to be tinged with cotton-candy-pink, and the streetlamps shed their pale light onto the pavement, lighting the way for the few people who were up and about at this hour.

I am alone.

It was the one thought she had been trying to keep from her mind, but it was so persistent. She couldn't help but return to it, no matter how well she was in control of her emotions. To be thrust so suddenly from the world she knew to this totally alien one in which she knew no one and no one knew her…and devoid of the one person who made life almost worth living.

But no! Raven told herself severely. _I will not think about him. I must think instead on how to get out of this place._ But she couldn't see any way to do that. Her powers were completely gone, so she couldn't teleport. And St Agnes' was fitted out with a top-of-the-line security system, along with enough guards to fill up two prisons.

I'll never see him again.

Raven just barely kept herself from screaming out loud at her treacherous brain. For the third time since she had woken up alone, Raven felt a constricting pain in her throat and a sharp stinging behind her eyes. Blinking angrily, she banished the beginnings of tears. _Not this early in the morning,_ she thought grimly.

She rested near the window, one slim hand resting lightly on the sill, staring out the window into the misty morning. The sun was rising now, rapidly, and the streetlamps clicked off simultaneously. Fashionable cars purred down the road and the hustle of pedestrians could already be heard. Raven listened with a hint of yearning, wanting nothing more than something so mundane as walking in the open air.

And then…then she heard a noise that was quite different from the smooth workings of cars or the voices of those who walk. It was one she had heard so many times before…and she wanted so badly for it to be true and yet Raven caught her breath, unable to believe that it _would_ be true.

She heard what could only be, unmistakably, Robin's beloved motorbike.

…

The biotech marvel, Cyborg, sat yawning in a swivelly, comfortable-looking leather chair. Stretching, he brought his arms down to slowly type something out on the computer screen in front of him.

"Dammit, lost again," he cursed under his breath. A computer game featuring odd-looking creatures and a smirking faerie stared out at him. _There's nothing to do this early, _he decided, yawning again. Although most of the doctors of St Agnes came in at about 6:30, as did he, it was still far too early for his tastes.

"Tsk tsk, slacking off on the job, Cyborg?" came a mock- scolding voice from behind him. Cyborg swiveled in his chair and grinned at Robin.

"'Morning to you, too," Cyborg replied. Robin shrugged into his white lab coat, embroidered with his name and degree, and bent slightly to observe what his friend, in name the electrical engineer, but in practice the securities and electricity general, and the backup secretary, of St Agnes's, was playing.

"_Neopets?_" Robin burst out incredulously, laughing. "C'mon man, even you've gotta have something better to do."

"Our loonies aren't really that loony," Cyborg said mournfully. "None of them are trying to eat glue or kill each other."

"We'll put you in a room," Robin offered, "and I'm sure if they weren't crazy to begin with they will be in a short amount of time."

Cyborg had just opened his mouth to fling back a retort when a cool, almost inhuman voice cut him off.

"Good morning, Cyborg, Doctor," he said, inclining his head ever so slightly to the two of them. Robin stiffened and nodded back.

"Doctor Slade," Robin replied. Slade was the head of St Agnes's, a very bright doctor, but not well endowed in the people skills department. Of all the doctors and nurses at St Agnes, Robin had yet to meet one who actually liked him.

Slade gave him a thin smile. He reached into his bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers. "Here's the preliminary report on the new arrival," he said casually, handing the papers to Robin. "I trust you will take care of her?"

"Um, yeah," Robin said distractedly, his eyes skimming down the pages covered margin to margin with notes. Slade lingered a moment, his unfathomable eyes taking in with disfavour both the young doctor and his engineering friend, and then strode down the hall to the doctors' lounge.

"Yo man, you okay?" Cyborg asked, noticing how Robin's brows were knit tightly on his forehead, and how distracted he seemed to be.

Robin looked up at his friend's concerned inquiry, and grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay," he said. "Just another new case." Cyborg looked ready to press the matter, since Robin never noted with this much interest a new arrival, but Robin noticed it, and stopped him. "Who've I got on for today?"

Cyborg sighed, swiveled back around in his chair, and pulled up Robin's schedule on the computer. "You've got another session with Garfield Logan at 11:00," he reported. "And at 1: 30, you're set to see Aqua Lad. Besides that, you've just gotta go the rounds."

"Thanks," Robin said, leaving. His soft-soled shoes made no noise on the shiny floor; it was policy that all employees not wear noisy shoes, since they were apt to wake up the patients. In fact, it had become policy ever since a nurse, Star, came in wearing five-inch heels. The clicking of the shoes had woken a patient up, and he ran around screaming, brandishing a candlestick and declaring he was the Colonel Mortimer Mustard. This in turn had upset other patients, one of who had gone into an epileptic seizure and almost died.

In retrospect, it was almost funny.

Robin stopped in front of room 4A. St Agnes's did not formally call its inmates patients, instead referring to them as guests. Apparently, the founders of St Agnes's thought that 'patient' was too morbid and would discourage the "guests." The original builders of St Agnes's had also gone through pains to keep it from adopting the impersonal sterile feel of hospitals. There was no linoleum, but rather hardwood; the lights were soft, not harsh and white; each patient had an individual room, with a large bed in one corner away from the window, bolted down to the floor, and a high ceiling.

She's right behind this door, Robin thought to himself. He glanced down at his papers. _Raven. That's her only name. _He paused for a moment, his hand resting lightly on the cool metal doorknob, then resolved and suddenly pushed the door open.

She was sitting in the middle of the floor, legs crossed, eyes closed. She didn't look up when he entered, or when he clicked the door shut behind him. Her face was smooth and unwrinkled, although she seemed to be focusing with great concentration.

"Good morning," Robin said loudly, not content to put her off until later. He had a little more than three hours until his next patient anyway, and he wasn't going to just sit in his office and drive himself insane thinking about her.

The girl—Raven, Robin said to himself—cocked one eye open, then both widened slowly.

It's him…it's Robin…Raven thought disbelievingly. _And he's left off his mask! _A pair of deep brown eyes flecked with lighter gold scrutinised her from under dark brows, framed by lashes that would have looked feminine on anyone else... though on Robin, Raven noted, they only enhanced his natural good looks.

_What's Robin doing here? Will he know what's going on? Is he an inmate too?_ Though her mind was working so quickly, Raven kept herself as composed as usual.

"It's morning," she stated, not looking at him. "Nothing good about it."

Robin, a bit taken aback by this rather rude greeting, flipped to a page in the stack of papers he was carrying. _This girl looks like she's got it all,_ he said to himself. _Obsessive-compulsive, multiple personalities, clinically depressed, hallucinative…_He read the scribbled note. "_Likely more to be discovered."_

He shrugged. "Whatever," he said, seating himself in one of the chairs. "I'm your doctor—my name is—"

Raven answered for him. "Robin," she said shortly. "I know." _Robin's going to be my doctor?_ _God, he's just as crazy as I'm supposed to be._

"How could you?" Robin demanded, curious. "Have I met you before?"

"You might've," Raven answered carelessly. Her façade was taking huge amounts of energy to keep up. All she really felt like doing was throw herself in Robin's arms and sob the whole story out to him and have him take her in his warm embrace and kiss her hair and tell her it would be all right….On the other hand, she had an impulse to smack him, hard, for leaving her.

"Well…as you evidently know, I'm Dr Robin Greyson—but forget the formality, everybody here calls me by my given name," Robin pushed on, not content to let this strange girl get away from him.

"Fine, _Robin_," Raven said. "Save your speech about being welcome to St Agnes's, I've already got it."

"Raven, _look at me,_" he commanded. "Stop being such a bitch, will you? I'm trying to help you, because you've obviously got something wrong with you and I want to fix it!"

The harsh language caught her attention and she turned a cold gaze on Robin. He was surprised at the animosity she was showing him. Her amethyst eyes were hard and unrelenting.

"Something wrong with me?" she repeated. "I woke up a few days ago to find my world turned upside down and nothing as I knew it. Something's wrong with the world."

Robin settled himself in a chair and looked with interest at her. "Go on," he said.

God, he hasn't changed, Raven said to himself. "You won't believe me."

Robin shrugged. "I'll listen."

"Right," Raven said emotionlessly. Silence reigned, and it was finally evident to Robin that Raven wasn't going to tell her story out right.

"When did this start?" he asked, poising his pen above the paper.

"When did what start?" Raven asked back.

"This. When did you become convinced that the world isn't right?"

"When I woke up a few days ago," Raven answered tersely. _I can't tell him the truth. He'll be like the others and think I'm crazy. And…I couldn't stand it if even Robin loses all faith in me…. _Raven shook her head, disgusted with how pathetic she was acting_. Like a desperate schoolgirl with a huge crush_, she thought derisively. Robin could be the only person who could help her and tell her what was going on and here she was, too caught up in her thoughts she couldn't even tell Robin the truth.

"What was life like before you woke up?" Robin pressed. _I should've known she'd be so recalcitrant,_ Robin said to himself. _Doesn't look as though I could ever get much out of her, she's so wooden and emotionless._

"And when did this become an interrogation?" Raven said, determined not to let him get anywhere. She was too worried that she'd spill the truth and Robin would be lost to her. Forever.

"Since you refuse to tell me yourself," Robin countered. "Look, this questioning technique is what I use on very small children. Unless you're a large, small child, then there's no need for me to do this." Raven looked ready to fling a sharp retort but Robin caught her wrist.

"Listen," he said, quieter. Raven couldn't take her eyes off him, more handsome than she remembered, with his pair of light gold eyes holding her gaze powerfully. "I want to know all about you, Raven. I want to hear your story. You…" Robin cut himself off, about to tell her that she had called to him, had reminded him forcefully of someone he didn't know. "You seem to have an interesting story to tell," Robin amended.

Raven looked into his eyes for a second more and then turned away, pulling her wrist expertly out of his strong grip. She sighed.

"Let me ask you this first," she told him. "You know a wonder of biotechnology called Cyborg, don't you? And an annoying goofball formerly named Garfield Logan, commonly called Gar, even more commonly called Beast Boy? And you're probably going out with a perpetually happy girl named Starfire?"

"Yeah….except I'm not going out with Star," Robin said quickly. He looked wonderingly at her. "How…do you know?"

"We all lived together," Raven said finally, resolved to telling the truth. Robin's curious mind had evidently crossed over into this new world also, and also his determination to get to the bottom of everything. Nothing would work except to give him what he wanted. "In a T-shaped tower on that island in the middle of the river. You were Robin, the Boy Wonder, Batman's one-time sidekick. Star was an alien from Tama—"

Raven's words were cut off as somebody opened the door and stepped in, oblivious to the fact that she might be interrupting. "Medicine time!" Star trilled. She carried a tray with five little cups on it, each of which, Robin knew, held the exact dosage of the amount of medicine to be taken. _Woah, that's a bit much,_ Robin said to himself. _But then again…according to these papers, she's got a "bit much" wrong with her._

Raven took the medicine quietly, quickly, and Star bestowed upon her a smile like one would give to those in pre-school. "I shall return with more later," she promised, "and then you will feel allllll better." She grinned at Robin and winked; as she walked by him, she swung her hips, so he couldn't miss how short and tight her tiny white skirt was.

"That's Star," Raven said, in the silence after she had left.

"Um, yeah, it is," Robin said, looking at Raven with new interest in those gold-flecked eyes.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

**__**

IMPORTANT. _Wowie…thanks for all your reviews! Keep them coming: they help make my day So what did you all think about this chapter? Before you go on about how Raven was acting too weak, let me justify myself: I like to think that Raven would have changed in the years she'd been living with the Titans, and even if she doesn't show it, she could be thinking all these things and no one would ever know. So I'm taking a bit of artistic license and letting you all know._

For all those who said this was "weird": Think of it like an AU where everyone but Raven was told. Does that clear things up a bit?

Review comments:

Absolutely pointless: Yes, Rae x Rob is the OTP

Clouded Dragon: Thanks for putting me on your favourites list and increasing my self esteem

Raven Fiery-Black: Thanks! I really try to keep my stories technically correct, 'cause it annoys the hell out of me when writers can't even spell the simplest words!

ThessalyD: Maybe because she's the most likely? I dunno, I just wanted a Rae x Rob pairing so putting Starfire in wouldn't work (although she is a nurse)

Akane Always: I'll make a promise to you—and to everyone else who commented on my schoolwork—I'll work at least 15 minutes a day on each new chapter, and at least an hour on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Okay?

Aislin of the Shadows: Exactly!!

Dark Weezing: I really love Frasier, too bad it ended ::cries:: Um, I've actually never seen the BB one…as far as I knew…this was the only one…guess not

A big hug, thanks, and cupcakes to all who reviewed! By the by…the song I used this time, and last time, are both from the Batman Forever soundtrack. Must watch that movie seeing as how much I love the soundtrack.


	3. The Story

****

A Garden of Roses

Chapter 3: The Story

__

I'm taking it easy, cleared my head

Cried me a river, said some prayers

But I often wonder, when I'm in bed

Where are you now?

Where Are You Now?: Brandy

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Robin heard a tentative knock on his door and the person knocking came in without waiting for a reply. Robin glanced up from his papers and grinned at Garfield Logan. The boy sat on the couch across from Robin's desk.

He was of medium height, slender, and with a slightly, almost imperceptable, nervous cast to his emerald eyes. He lay on the edge of the couch and he let out a loud honking noise.

"'Morning to you too, Gar—I mean, Beast Boy," Robin said, using the boy's preferred name. "What animal are you _this_ time?"

The boy let out another honk before snapping up and sitting ramrod straight. "I was a duck," Beast Boy explained, hurt showing on his small face.

"Of course," Robin said seriously, nodding his head. "I wonder how I missed something so obvious."

"You're probably just tired or something," Beast Boy said, much happier. Robin was sure he was bipolar as well as multiple personalities, but it was a little early to tell on the bipolar front.

"So have you been taking your medicines?" asked Robin, glancing back down on his papers. His school had not been complaining of his "transformations"…

…as much, at least.

Beast Boy nodded—shadily, Robin thought. "I, uh, might've missed a couple days here and there," Beast Boy said, rubbing a hand behind his head.

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Robin said. "It's important for you to take your meds every day. Or else we'll confine you here—or worse, Arkham."

This threat was enough, although both knew Robin would never send Beast Boy to Arkham Asylum. "Okay, okay, I got it," Beast Boy replied hastily. "I'll remember to take my meds every day." He dropped off the couch and crouched on all fours, making his eyes big and his mouth pouty. Robin recognised this as his "puppy" look.

Robin sighed. He hated being severe, but he had no other choice. His mind wandered back to his first meeting with Raven…the anger that had coursed through him was uncharacteristic, totally random. He couldn't think of why he'd even said those things…_done_ those things….

"Hel-_lo_?" Beast Boy said, coming up to Robin and waving his hands in front of the doctor's frozen gold eyes. He made a high screeching noise and ran around the room with his arms outstretched and flapping, his best imitation of a pterodactyl. He came back to normal when this didn't work and rapped smartly on Robin's head. "Is there a doctor in the house?"

Robin snapped out of his reverie as Beast Boy chuckled at his own joke. "Yeah…sorry," Robin said, forcibly pulling his mind away from Raven. Why did she have such a hold on him?

But something she had said came back to him now…their first meeting. She knew Beast Boy. Robin grinned. Perhaps Beast Boy could pull something out of the cold girl.

"Beast Boy," Robin announced, getting up suddenly, "we are taking a field trip."

"Woo-hoo," the boy replied sarcastically. "You gonna show me Arkham again? 'Cuz dude, that place scared the crap outta me."

"Nope. There's someone I want you to meet," Robin replied, and held the door open for his patient to go out. Techinically, he wasn't supposed to do this, let two patients meet. _Especially _not an inmate and a visiting patient. But Robin shrugged off his slight sense of guilt, arguing to himself that not only would nobody see, but that it was for the greater good of both Raven and Beast Boy.

He carefully locked his office door and walked down the clean corridor, sighing in relief when he found the hallways empty and room 4A quiet.

…

Raven was just beginning to feel she had lost about ten brain cells when she heard her door open a second time. She resisted the impulse to whirl around to see if it was Robin.

"Raven," a voice behind her said, "I've brought a friend."

Raven turned and her eyes widened as someone unmistakably Beast Boy took a step closer. "I never thought I'd say this," she said in her usual quiet, emotionless way, "but I'm glad to see you, Beast Boy."

"Beast Boy, you know her?" Robin asked quizzically, beginning to question who was sane and insane in this place.

"No," Beast Boy said, "but when a beautiful lady says she's glad to see me…well then, I'm glad to see her!" He walked up to Raven and boldly embraced her.

"Beast Boy," Raven said dangerously, "don't touch me. Ever. Again."

He backed off, his arms up. "Ooooh, Ice Queen," he said to Robin, grinning.

Raven was shooting daggers at the hapless boy so Robin intervened. He slipped closer to her and smiled. "This is the Beast Boy you were talking about," he said, encouraging her to talk more.

"Unfortunately," Raven sighed, but as she turned away, Robin could tell she didn't mean it. Unexpectedly something stabbed at his heart._ Could it be, _he wondered, _that in this "previous life" Raven believes she was in…she had feelings for Beast Boy? Was it a mistake to bring him here?_

"Good God I'm going crazy," Robin muttered as this thought crossed his mind. They were both patients of his! Even if Raven had felt something for Beast Boy…it shouldn't have mattered, right? But it did…. He had said it so quietly he thought no one would hear, but Raven just smirked beside him.

"Tell me something I _don't_ know, Boy Wonder," she said out of the corner of her mouth, her lips barely moving. Robin opened his mouth to utter a witty retort before what she had said hit him.

"Boy Wonder?" Robin repeated. The name struck something in him, a faint chord of familiarity. But no one had ever called him that. Of all his nicknames, Boy Wonder was definitely _not_ one of them. _But she said,_ Robin remembered, _this morning, that I used to be called the Boy Wonder. I was Batman's sidekick. _It sounded ludicrous to his ears, so well-trained to the rantings of the insane, and he wanted to believe that Raven was insane, hallucinogenic. But the note the name resonated in him encouraged him otherwise…

Beast Boy's caperings pulled Robin from his musings and Raven shot him a vaguely sympathetic look. Hastily Robin glanced down at his watch—an expensive- looking silver Seiko, Raven noticed—and restrained Beast Boy, whose current form was that of a monkey. "All right Beast Boy, nice seeing ya', but time's up," he said to the boy, who stiffened and returned to normal under Robin's strong grip.

"And so we part in such sweet sorrow," Beast Boy said dramatically, sweeping low over Raven's hand and kissing it. "Ladies love when you treat 'em like that," he whispered in an aside to Robin.

Either Beast Boy was dead wrong or Raven wasn't a lady, Robin couldn't help but think, since Raven looked ready to kill Beast Boy. "Beast Boy," Raven said in a voice of barely- masked annoyance, "_never_ touch me or pull anything like that on me. Again. Ever." She turned to Robin. "Is it me, or have we had this conversation before?"

Robin ushered Beast Boy out of the room and into the smiling hands of a plump elderly nurse. "Schedule your next appointment with Cy," Robin called after him. "And _don't_ forget to take your meds or I swear you're going straight to Arkham!"

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Raven said after a moment.

Robin shrugged. "Whatever works," he said diffidently. Silence reigned for a few moments, uncomfortable, heavy.

"Raven…" Robin said, his gold eyes direct. "Did you ever have a… thing for Beast Boy?"

Raven choked for numerous reasons. The first was that the idea was absolutely laughable. The second was a too-quick intake of breath. _What is he asking me?_ she wondered. _Could he be asking because he…doesn't want it to be true…?_ When she regained breath the first thing she managed out was "Are you _serious?_ Beast Boy and me?"

"I'll take that as a no, then," Robin said, and Raven noticed a flash of relief in his eyes as he cast them down again toward his expensive Seiko watch.

"Nice watch, though," Raven said. Robin looked up briefly and flashed a smile with teeth whiter than Raven remembered.

It was really too unfair, Raven decided, as they both looked out the window. The gloomy façade of Arkham Aslyum stared threateningly out at them. Robin was _right there_ in front of her and he didn't know it and she couldn't say anything and she had so many _memories_ whose recollection sent pains shooting through her heart. _What's happened to the Robin that I knew? _Raven wondered. _What's happened to the _world_ I knew?_ Could she possibly start from the beginning with Robin?

More importantly, would he accept her?

…

In the first years of the Titan fellowship, everyone thought Robin would end up with Starfire. Even Raven had thought that—and she hadn't cared. What, after all, were emotions for? What did they bring except desolation and pain? But as the Titans grew older Raven found it harder and harder to keep that attitude. She had seen emotions-- true emotions-- roiling and soothing and painful and balming, and that the end result of feeling emotions could actually be happy.

__

Not that I ever had the chance to find out, Raven reminded herself sourly. It was for the good of herself, her friends, and in fact the world around them, that she remain apathetic and spend hours upon hours in solitary meditation, and she was not in the habit of being sulky and self-pitying. Oh, she had pulled it off all right, retreating under her cloak or burying herself in a book. But she couldn't help but wish, occasionally, that she might be…normal…and feel as normal people did.

It wasn't usual for her to even think about it; she simply accepted her role in life and as a member of the Titans. It was just the type of person Raven was.

It had taken a couple years for Robin to realise that Starfire was not a good match for him. According to him, he and Starfire hadn't done much of anything together, which made Raven feel, almost inexplicably, happy. Although Cyborg was against the match, telling her that they were too stubborn for each other, Raven demonstrated her own stubborness by persisting.

__

I wish I could see you now, Cyborg, Raven thought, _so I could tell you how well Robin and I worked out._

After hours of long, grueling practice, Raven had learnt to control herself even better than before, so she could indulge in her emotions with Robin without destroying Jump City. To some extent, at least; she was still sorely limited in how far she could go. Only Cyborg knew of the couple; Starfire consoled herself with Beast Boy and the two were seemingly deliriously happy with each other. Raven felt glad for them—but still Cyborg, Raven's second-best friend in the Titans after Robin, was alone.

…

The thought of Cyborg made Raven turn suddenly to Robin, who was still in her room, observing her as she stared out the window, lost in introspection.

"Robin," Raven said, "does Cyborg work here?"

Once again, the girl's uncanny knowledge caught Robin off-guard. It lent credibility to Raven's story…impossible as Robin knew it was. "Yeah, he does," he replied after a moment. "Shall I call for him to come and see you?"

"That…would be nice," Raven said. After a slight pause, Raven continued. "I never…had a thing with him, either."

Robin let out an unconscious sigh of relief, wondering even as he did so. _I've not even known the girl for two days and I'm _already _jealous of her imagined lovers!_ Robin said to himself. _It's time for a vacation…_But he couldn't resist the strange pull the girl had on him. He knew her face but he didn't know her; he didn't know from when or where. He could say with perfect certainty that he had never met Raven before but he was sure they had, sometime, perhaps in a dream he had once had…?

"So," Robin said, relieved that Raven had not had romantic relationships with the other two men in the team—perhaps he was the one she'd had a "thing" for—"tell me more about your previous life. You didn't have a chance to finish."

"Right," said Raven. She sighed, resigning herself to telling him his old life. She had watched him with observant eyes through his initial years of turmoil, the moments of rage bordering on obsession remaining with him throughout his life. This thought sparked an idea with her and she allowed herself the slightest of smiles. "But first—let's switch roles. This time, _I'll_ be the ones asking questions, and _you_ can answer."

Robins shrugged, allowing the crazy girl to have her way. "Sure," Robin said, settling back in a plump chair and handing his long white coat and clipboard and pencil to Raven. "Play doctor," he told her. Raven slipped into the coat—a little too long and a little too large. Robin had always been just shy of being slender and he was only a little bigger than Raven.

"What made you want to be a shrink?" asked Raven. Out of all the possible occupations in the world, psychiatrist was _not_ the one Raven would have expected for Robin. Robin ought to have been something else—a martial arts teacher, or (Raven's personal choice) a lawyer. Psychiatry was a presitigious enough position, Raven thought fairly, it required an MD, but it seemed so…unsophisticated, so unlike Robin—who, Raven was convinced, was probably the craziest of all the Titans.

Robin thought for a moment. "I really am fascinated with the human mind—how it works, its complexity, how and why it goes wrong. This profession gives me a chance to explore it. Plus, I really want to help people and try and cure them." He paused, then continued. "When I was a kid, I was actually treated for schizophrenia. I had an alternate ego—"

"Let me guess," Raven interrupted. "You went around calling yourself Red X?"

"Well…yeah," Robin said, astonished by her reply. "How did you know?"

"When you were a Titan," Raven said, "you had a mortal enemy called Slade—"

"Slade?" It was Robin's turn to interrupt. "Is it the same Slade I know?"

"Might be; Slade's not exactly the most popular name, you know."

"Is this…Slade I used to hate…sadistic, creepy, inhuman?" Robin asked.

"That sounds like Slade all right. Will you let me finish?" Raven added as Robin opened his mouth to say something else. "You asked how I knew about Red X." Robin settled back in his chair, although his dark brows were still pulled together.

"Anyway, you devised this plan—probably one of your most idiotic—where you donned a mask and went by Red X. You fought your own teammates in an attempt to get closer to Slade. And it almost worked." Raven stopped, unsure of whether to continue. She looked down at the clipboard, idly coloring a dark circle on the left- hand margin.

"Almost?" Robin prompted. Raven chanced a glance back at him saw his gold eyes were sharp—she couldn't dodge the question.

"Almost," Raven repeated. "You scared us, Robin." Her quiet voice startled Robin, who had heard a raw emotion hidden under the lowered volume and carefully controlled enunciation. And for one of the first times she had used his name. "And then…Slade was defeated but he lived on in your mind. You kept fighting him—somebody—ended by beating yourself up. You would get so angry sometimes. Not," she added hastily, "that I blame you."

"Yeah, Slade's not exactly the most likeable of people," Robin agreed. The hard glint remained in his eyes. "I'm not really that angry—at least, not anymore."

"You grew out of it," she assured him. She turned her attention briefly back to doodling on his notes.

"Tell me more," Robin urged. "Tell me more about the Teen Titans in general. Who we were, what we did."

Raven explained. She told of their pizza nights and the argument every morning between Beast Boy and Cyborg about what to eat for breakfast. Her voice was starting to grow hoarse as she talked about their main enemies, their greatest battles.

Robin drank in all the information. He knew this was going against everything he had learnt in his internship—but this was different, he knew it was. Raven's "condition" was unlike anything else he had read in the literature or studied in school. And the tales she was telling!—about him, and the people he knew, and everything they did…it was all so amazing!

"Now tell me," he pressed, "about what were like as people. What life was like. Five teenagers with the occasional new arrival living together for that many years."

Raven knew this was coming but she still wasn't looking forward to it. What if, by her telling Robin of his "thing" for Starfire, he would decide to go with her? But it was an integral part of the Titans' years together—and besides, Raven told herself, Robin had come to her in the end anyway…even back then….

"You had a 'thing' for Star," Raven said. "I think everybody did, back when we were younger. All the guys, at least. Thought she was beautiful. Or something."

Robin grinned slyly. "Jealous?" he asked with a teasing cocking of a brow. Raven looked defiantly into his eyes for a moment.

"No," she said, "just thought you all were wasting your time. Starfire was an alien who could barely speak proper English. Just because she was taller, and had a better figure, and had shapelier legs, doesn't mean she was a better person." _Didn't mean she was better than me._

"We were still good friends though, out of necessity." Raven smiled slightly, the tiniest upquirk of the lips. Robin noticed it. "She was so bubbly and cheerful all the time. It ought to have been against the law."

Robin smiled also. "She hasn't changed." He chuckled. "I'm surprised. I didn't think I went for Star's…type."

"Neither did I," Raven muttered, but when Robin raised his eyebrows questioningly, she shook her head. "She ended up with Beast Boy, actually. Cyborg was against it. Said they were too childish—wouldn't be good for each other."

"Star, and Beast Boy?" Robin repeated. "That's too…weird." He grinned at Raven—the sort of grin, she knew, of a man who was getting ready to flirt.

"Who'd you end up with?" He asked the question so lightly, so teasingly.

She was torn. She wanted to tell him and at the same time didn't want to. She didn't want to be at his mercy again. She still loved him, she knew she did—but she would have to earn back his love. And that would take time. And every day she would feel the pain in her heart when she saw him so close to her with his gold eyes flashing…so close they were separated by bare metres, as far away as though at opposite ends of the universe.

"Aqua Lad," she lied tonelessly.

Robin looked as though he wanted to ask even more but out of habit glanced down at his Seiko and cursed. "Forgot about him," he muttered. "I've an appointment with him," he explained, as he took his coat and clipboard from her.

Raven watched him as he left, walking with powerful, purposeful strides. "Is everyone I know here?" she asked out loud. _Is this my new world?_

………………………………………………………

**__**

A/N: Uh…heh heh…;; sorry for making you guys wait that long! I know_ I promised but it's just been impossible…I'll honestly try to be better! Anyway, a million thanks to all you who reviewed, you make my day(s) as I write and inspire me!_

A note about the plot though….A lot of you have been kind of pushing for the characters to remember their old life but that's not going to happen. Something weird happened to Raven—heck, even I don't know (yet)—but she's the only one and she's truly stuck in an AU. But it'll all turn out well in the end.

****

Softballtitan009: Thanks! But no, I didn't get the idea from Family Guy, I don't think I ever watched it, actually.

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Zodokai: Thanks for reading! Hope this answers a few more of your questions.

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Fallenharbinger: Well…glad I got you introduced to a new type of fic…Thanks a lot for reading and reviewing.


	4. Chapter Four

A Garden of Roses

Chapter 4: The

Nobody lives without love  
Nobody gets to give up  
You can try to lock your heart away  
The love will come back for you some day  
Nobody lives without love

Eddi Reader, Nobody Lives Without Love

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

It had barely been a minute after Robin had left that two more people came barging through her door. Raven, who had been just getting ready to settle into a brooding and morose mood, turned irritably from the window, ready to snap off the head of whoever came in.

She stopped when she saw Star and another nurse with cotton-candy pink hair, noisily popping gum. Star, as usual, carried a tray of medicines; the other—Jinx, Raven thought, by the looks of her—clutched folded white pajamas.

"Pink or blue," Jinx asked, looking bored.

"Excuse me" Raven said, caught unawares by the question.

Jinx rolled her eyes at Star, a 'What crazy people we higher mortals are forced to deal with' sort of look, and then unrolled two cotton shirts. One had pink piping, the other blue. Raven understood the question.

"Neither" she replied, pulling her cape a little tighter around herself. "I like _my_ clothes."

"Too bad, hun" Jinx said, not at all sympathetically. Raven wondered what in the world had made Jinx choose the nursing profession.

"I thought nurses were supposed to be like your nice old grandmother" Raven said, "who baked brownies and knitted you a sweater for Christmas."

Star giggled. "Poison brownies" she said, and giggled some more. Jinx silenced her with another glance and the giggles stopped abruptly. Raven wondered idly about the strange authority Jinx had over Star, who wasn't normally the type to be so submissive.

"So, _pink, or blue?_" Jinx pressed.

"Blue," Raven said shortly. It would remind her, at least, of the deep navy of her leotard and cape. Slowly, she cast off her old clothes, folding them neatly, as the two nurses watched, placing her belt on top of the soft square of cloth. She pulled on the cotton pajamas, which were oddly loose on her—they felt strange, soft against her skin, and she was more covered up than she ever was—and then Jinx snatched up the folded leotard and cloak, holding them distastefully as she would a dirty diaper.

Raven watched the last of her old identity leave with her old enemy.

……………………………………………

Robin surveyed Aqua Lad as the young man babbled on about something-or-other. Grudgingly, he admitted to himself what a young woman would see in him. Certainly, he was tall, perpetually tan , and lean muscles hidden under his skin. He was built strongly—it showed in the rectangular planes of his face—and his intelligent, slanted eyes were inky.

_Pretty boy,_ Robin thought, _that's what we would call guys like him at school…._

Suddenly, Aqua Lad stood, knocking his couch a few inches back. "I am Aqua Lad," he said loudly, striking a heroic pose. "I can and will save you."

Robin was brought back to reality by this sudden proclamation. "Yes, you are Aqua Lad, and yes, you will save me," he said wearily. "Are you taking your medicines?"

"Aqua Lad doesn't _need_ medicines," the other said defensively. "I don't know_ what _you're on about all the time, muttering about my taking medicines and how I can't do this or that…."

Robin left him to his complaining, scrawling lazily on a prescription pad to increase the boy's dosage. He was schizotypal, that was sure…but perhaps there was something else….

His mind wandered back to the mysterious girl in blue and he pulled off Aqua Lad's information from the clipboard, revealing Raven's notes. Severely depressed, causing her to lose contact with reality…borderline, paranoid….She was a textbook case for all of them and yet Robin could not shake the feeling that she was perhaps the most sane of all the people in St. Agnes's. Or that he had, somehow, met her somewhere.

Dimly, he realized Aqua Lad was done with his tirade, threatening to slip back down into depression. He ripped the prescription off the pad and handed it to the young man.

"Give this to Pharmacy, " he instructed, "they'll give you a higher dosage of your Citromax. But your meds won't last forever," Robin warned. "You _need_ to take it every day, understand? And make sure to schedule your next appointment with Cyborg."

Aqua Lad shuffled out of the room with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Robin leaned back in his squishy leather armchair, closing his eyes. He was settling down for a quick nap when his pager beeped, loudly, annoyingly, and very high. He glanced down at the digital display, more than a little inclined to just ignore it; but he groaned when he saw the number.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, keep your shirt on," Robin grumbled as he got up from his chair, slipping back into his lab coat. "What do you want _this _time…"

The walk was long and lonely. The only noise was the ticking of a clock, which served more to define the silence, give it parameters, than defy it. He paused for a moment before the dark wood doors, his hand resting lightly on the cool metal doorknob, raised his eyes to the ceiling, took a deep breath…And entered.

As usual, Slade was seated in a wing-armed chair recessed into the shadows. Robin's eyes dilated from the sudden darkness and he blinked once. Not for the first time, Robin wondered if Slade ought to be the patient at St. Agnes's, rather than the doctor.

"Sir," Robin said, seating himself in one of the hard wooden chairs in front of Slade's hard wooden desk. "I have other work to do, patients to see—"

"Like that new girl, Raven," Slade cut in smoothly. His voice grated on Robin. It was metallic, automatic, inhuman.

"She's an interesting case, Doctor," Robin said, too used to Slade's personality to let it get to him. Too much.

"Take care you don't take… _too_ much of an interest in her," Slade warned, not looking at him.

_That's ridiculous,_ Robin wanted to say, but instead he nodded mutely.

"This is a warning, Robin," Slade said, turning away from him once more. "If I see that you have been spending an inordinate amount of time with her, then I will have to assign a new doctor to her."

Robin rose from his chair. "Yes, sir," Robin said quietly—not out of submission, out of insubordinance. He wasn't going to let the girl get away from him.

_How does he _know Robin wondered as he left, carefully keeping the heavy wooden door from slamming. _He's got eyes everywhere…_

He passed a small, skinny boy tinkering with the wiring on his way back to his own office. "Gizmo," Robin said, "run along and tell Cyborg to drop in at Room 4A, will you?" It was a command, not a real question. Gizmo took off his thick glasses, cast Robin a withering look, and then, grumbling, made his way to the front desk.

……………………

Raven sat cross-legged on her bed with her eyes closed. Every day for a couple hours during the afternoon, St. Agnes's pumped classical music throughout the building. Raven actually enjoyed classical music of all sorts—including opera (which was, unfortunately for her, considered too "heavy" for most of the patients).

Not that she would let anyone know that. Most people assumed she listened to modern music—metal, Goth, rock. Which she did. Classical music was not what many people would consider enjoyable, though Raven did: many musicians—such as Beethoven—were plenty dark. Opera was positively tragic.

But she hummed along with the middle bars of a Chopin nocturne. The piano sounded as though its heart was breaking, raw, open, passionate. And still beautiful.

She stopped abruptly when she heard the doorknob turn. An athletic, black young man stood nervously in her doorjamb.

Raven stood up in surprise, and Cyborg noticed her eyes light up the tiniest bit as she took a step towards him. "Cyborg," she said, warmth in her voice. She smiled a little. "I'm pretty happy to see you."

"So, you know me?" Cyborg said, coming in and shutting the door. He smiled at her, fully. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting," he continued.

"Trust me, we've met," Raven said shortly, and all of a sudden, her good cheer at seeing Cyborg melted as she remembered that no one else knew her.

………………..

It was almost, in a painfully ironic way, the exact situation that Raven had been hoping for. Free from the constraints she was usually under, free to feel the wild rush of emotion of the sort she'd fantasized about, sometimes, when she was alone in her room.

She used to grin with pleasure imagining what could happen if she were able to feel as a normal person. What she and Robin could get up to…! She had a few, unextensive scenarios tucked neatly away in a small compartment of her mind, the part which she opened and indulged in only infrequently; they were not very thorough because of her complete inexperience with these matters.

But, nature overcame nurture in this case, and Raven, try as she might, couldn't bring herself to be as extravagantly emotional as Starfire, or Robin, or Beast Boy or Cyborg.

It was Robin's presence that hurt her. Back in the old world, back in the Tower, they had just come to be intimate, just come to be true friends. She was in love; she hated the term, she hated the myriad ways it was represented in the books and television, but she couldn't deny it. She was still unsure if she loved the feeling Robin induced in her, or if she despised it. She felt as though she _ought_ to dislike it, but it was too hard with Robin, laughing Robin with his eyes (she imagined) twinkling; determined Robin, with the strong planes of his face set squarely against any obstacle; lover Robin, with his gentle hands and persistent lips.

Raven cast her eyes up to the white ceiling, willing her mind to mirror its cool smoothness. Yet she felt the now-familiar surge of anger and confusion and self-pity rise in her chest. Where was she, and why was she here?

…………………………………

"Hey there."

Cyborg turned slowly around in his chair, suppressing his grin. He would know that sassy voice anywhere.

"What up…Bumblebee," he said coolly, finally turning to see the dark-skinned, almond-eyed young woman standing with a slim hip resting lightly against the desk.

Karen Beecher flashed a smile, slow as molasses. She pulled out a gold-plated stethoscope.

"Like it, Cyborg?" She fiddled with it, making sure it caught it the light and reflected a rainbow back. Now she couldn't hide her enthusiasm. "I'm now Chief-of-Staff over at Arkham."

"Congratulations," Cyborg said warmly, shaking her hand. "It's very shiny. Not my style of bling, though."

Karen snorted, eyeing him up and down, deliberately taking in his shiny titanium and crystal casing. "As though you need any more." she said.

"Oh really, now?" Cyborg replied, arching an eyebrow. "Ya know, I _was_ thinking of asking you out tonight—but if you're going to be too busy admiring your new stethoscope, then we can always reschedule…."

"I think I can work something out," Karen said, leaning closer to him and smiling fully. Her green eyes twinkled. "See you." She walked away from him with her hips swaying under the lab coat.

Jinx watched all this from the corner where she was hiding, turning away from the pair with a heavy heart and downcast eyes.

………………………………………….

Robin parked his motorbike in the garage, gently caressing it for a few moments before finally stepping inside. For the first time in ages he stopped by at his personal library, with its huge, fantastic collection of books he had inherited. He ran his fingers over the old, leather spines, not entirely sure why he was there, or what he was looking for.

He moved past the psychology literature section, past the medical textbooks, and there it was, finally: fiction. Somehow, a few titles seemed to jump to his fingers as though by magic. Mary Shelly's _Frankenstein,_ _Shakespeare's Greatest Tragedies_ including _Othello_, The _Tempest_, and _Hamlet_; and, of course, _The Collected Edgar Allen Poe._ He himself hadn't read the books in years, not since his high school literature days; but some feeling told him Raven would enjoy these books.

……………………………………..

Duly, the next day, Robin brought the books with him as he signed in at St. Agnes's.

"How was your date last night, Cy?" he asked his friend, as the other rapidly typed security codes into the computer.

Cyborg laughed. "Grea," he said. He eyed the books Robin was carrying. "Dude, do you really not have enough work to do that you have enough time to read books for fun? 'Cause if you do, man, you can have some of my work…"

"No, these are actually for—"

"Raven," both Robin and Cyborg finished at the same time. Cyborg grinned at the slightly astonished look on Robin's face.

"Did you really think it wasn't that _obvious?_" Cyborg said with a chuckle. "You like her, don't you."

Robin didn't reply. "You know what, I think I do," he said softly. He turned to go to room 4A, although his brow remained knit with thought.

Raven seemed to have just awoken when Robin came in, gently closing the door behind him. He grinned—Raven felt a slight pang—and stepped more fully inside.

"Good morning," he said, for now the professional doctor, "how are the medicines working for you? No side effects?"

"Oh no, not if you don't count choking on those horse-tranquilizers and feeling like I'm going to vomi,t" Raven replied sourly.

"Great, glad to see you're feeling better," he said cheerily. All of a sudden he felt slightly awkward and he thrust the books at her. "Here. I brought you something. I thought you might get a little bored all by yourself here…"

She was going to reply that she preferred to be alone until she looked at the embossed titles of the books. Raven looked up into Robin's gold eyes with warmth and gratitude. "Robin…thanks," she said, and he was pleased to hear the slight note of pleasure she injected into her voice. "These are my favorites," she said, and Robin could have sworn she had ended on an exclamation point, though he couldn't be sure.

"How did you know" she asked.

Robin shrugged—he honestly didn't know how he knew. "I enjoyed reading them too, so I thought you might." It was a lie; he'd hated Poe as a teenager and while the Shakespeare were fine, _Frankenstein _was a little too creepy for him.

Hesitantly, Robin and Raven stepped closer to each other.

Tentatively, he put his arms slowly, gently around her.

Slowly, she leaned in closer to rest her head on his chest.

Finally, the doctor and the patient, Robin and Raven, embraced.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

**_A/N: _**_Wow…thank you for all the reviews! Here's an update just in time for Valentine's Day. Hope you enjoyed the reading! Oh, and I figured out an explanation for why Raven's in this alternate reality, but you'll have to wait until the final chapter to find it out._

_Okay, on to review replies: I got so many wonderful, amazing ones that I simply must._

**Kirish: **No, I'm not dropping this—and gee, hard to think of why you're reading if you consider the major premise of my story as "shit."

**Elm-Tree10: **Yes they are!

**Samisweet: **Thanks for your review. You'd actually be surprised how many Desis are on definitely was.

**The Wings of a Raven: **Thanks! Um, once I think of a suitable condition for Speedy, I can put him in. I actually have done some research for this story so the conditions are real, although the medicines aren't.

**AnnFaithDarknessGoddess : **Wow, thank you so much for your sweet review!

**FweenessMeep No Meep: **Why's it so wrong? Your name is very cute by the way.

_As usual, many thanks and a Happy Valentine's Day to all who have read my story and reviewed, and all those that are reading and plan to review. _


	5. The Garden of Roses

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A Garden of Roses

Chapter 5

__

Rain song

So beautiful, my dear

Overcome

Drives me crazy.

Sunny Day Real Estate, 8

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Robin knew, somewhere, that he oughtn't to be doing this. He felt Raven tense momentarily in his unexpected arms and then he felt her relax completely into him, her petite form pressing against him and her own slim arms reciprocating with a strength he would not have believed of them. He let everything go, let fly the knowledge that she was his _patient,_ that she was most likely completely _insane,_ that he had known this girl for only a few _days_….And yet he couldn't rid himself of the notion that he had known her from somewhere. She was the melody you hear once when you're a small child, and then, years later, struggle to recall.

This is what Raven had been waiting for. Finally, did he see her? Finally, did he remember? She pulled him to her, rejoicing in the moment, deeply inhaling his scent, the same she knew from their intimate nights in the past. Her ear rested against his chest and she could feel the stable beating of his heart: Oh, Robin, steady Robin… "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered. "I've missed you so." He didn't hear her. She encircled her arms around him and pulled herself closer to him, wanting to absorb him, wanting to break away a piece of him and keep him with her forever, no matter what happened.

Now, his grip around her was loosening….He looked down at her, his face barely inches from her own…she half-closed her eyes in anticipation, instinctively leaning forward….He was about to kiss her, she knew he was going to, but the pressure of another's mouth on hers didn't come and she opened her eyes in annoyance at the tentative knocking at the door.

Robin was still looking slightly entranced, although he had quickly released her and straightened his coat. Raven sat down in an armchair opposite him and when this set up was complete, Robin called for the visitor to come in.

It was Gizmo. Robin looked in surprise at the boy, who was usually employed in the recesses of the circuit system, but that wasn't what caught his attention most. The usually impudent Gizmo was looking scared out of his wits. "S-Slade for you, sir," he gasped, and Robin thought he must have been running. Robin swore; Slade really _had_ got eyes everywhere, and he had ruined his time with Raven.

"I'm coming," Robin said quickly, standing up. Gizmo positively fled, and Robin looked apologetically at Raven. "Duty calls…"

"Yes, that _does_ sound like Slade," Raven replied, trying to steady herself from their near-kiss.

"Really? How would you have characterized him?" Robin said, interested. He knew the seconds he was talking with Raven would cost him when he arrived late for Slade.

Raven smirked. "Sadistic sociopath who believes murder is the answer to everything sounds about right," she said.

Robin laughed. "Hasn't changed, then," he said, keeping to himself the fact that sadism and sociopathy are mutually exclusive. "Well—" he shrugged and made a motion that suggested hanging—"Slade'll have my head if I'm not there in the next five seconds so…." Raven nodded. Right. "I'll be leaving, then," and his hand gripped the handle, his shoulder pushed slightly against the door, and he turned his wrist slightly.

And then he disappeared, leaving Raven to sink onto her bed and place wondering fingertips to her lips. They had almost kissed, she was sure of it. She was filled with a painful excitement that pushed out at her, so she felt she couldn't hold it in, as though her skin would surely stretch and then finally break and then maybe she would be free.

It wasn't supposed to have been like this. Robin had kissed her so many times before. But now it was like he was falling in love with her all over again….He had only the barest recollection, if any, of their previous relationship….Raven didn't _want_ to start all over! Sudden tears of frustration pressed at the backs of her eyes but furiously she blinked them away.

She had worked so hard to gain sufficient control over her emotions that a single kiss would not set the entire T-Tower alight with flames. She had worked through the heartbreak Malchior had left her to open herself, if even just a little bit, again, to Robin. And then—she had been so patient, waiting for Robin to come to her. She had watched quietly from the side as Starfire kept approaching him, threw herself at him; blinked only once when she heard they had kissed. Oh yes, Raven had been quite the good girl, staying pure for Robin, throwing off Beast Boy, because she had known that one day Robin _would_ come for her like the knights in the old stories.

Raven was never one for the sort of flamboyant romance that Starfire indulged herself in, but a quiet and deep one suited her just fine.

Raven and Robin had kept their relationship secret for many months—almost a year—not out of any consideration for Starfire or Beast Boy or even Cyborg, but more from a tacit agreement to not have it known. There was no need for the whole world to know, when they had each other. The other Titans hadn't suspected at all; Raven and Robin were discreet. Raven was able to school her face into its usual bland expression, and the mask hid Robin's eyes anyway, so it didn't matter for him so much. They still fought well during battle, neither one taking extra care of the other if one was hurt.

It had been Cyborg who had finally discovered them. Apparently prowling for a midnight snack, he saw them curled together on the sofa in the main room. They were quiet, but Cyborg was sharp, and heard the low giggles and whispered words. He hadn't been _angry,_ exactly, Raven thought, reflecting on that night. He had ample reason to be angry: the two of them seemingly rubbing in his face the fact that he hadn't any girlfriend, and that they had kept something from the team at large—they were, after all, family—but he'd just shrugged, wondered why they were keeping their relationship secret, chosen himself a huge sandwich from the refrigerator, and gone back to sleep.

Cyborg didn't say anything more, and acted normally towards them, but two days after the incident, over breakfast, Raven and Robin announced that they were together. And had been, for ten months. They had been expecting Starfire and Beast Boy to be upset—after all, Robin and Raven had rejected one of them, respectively, for each other—but those two had their own surprise announcement to make. The two of them had been going out for some time, it seemed. They had been clever; they were so proud of themselves that no one had noticed.

……………….

An uncharacteristic sort of shyness overcame Jinx as she approached the desk where Cyborg sat. He was at the computer, working or not, she couldn't tell. Why was she even coming to him?

"Pen," she mumbled, and took one from the canister on the desk. Cyborg looked up, startled, for a moment, and Jinx shuffled away quickly. _Crazy chick,_ he thought, before returning to the monitor screen.

Out of his field of vision, Jinx slumped against a wall. She hated herself for being so…._pathetic._ Clutching the pen tightly (it was just a pretense, she hadn't needed one at all) she stalked off down the hallway. She heard repressed moans coming from a broom closet on her left side and she jerked the door open, only to find:

"Star?" Jinx yelled in surprise. "And…._Beast Boy?_" The two sprang apart guiltily, Star hurriedly straightening her white blouse and skirt, and Beast Boy re-buttoning his shirt. "I don't believe this," Jinx said in a voice of calm that belied her disbelief. "I really _don't_ believe this." Normally, she would have been amused, but for some reason she felt anger well up inside her, and though she tried to squash it, it was hardy, and would not be so easily restrained.

"Oh…_please_ Jinx, don't yell so loudly!" Star pleaded with her friend, wringing her hands in nervousness. "It is almost a certainty that this is not allowed!" Star cried. Jinx snorted.

"Well done, hunny," said Jinx scathingly. "Illicit dalliances between nurse and patient? It's unheard of!" Starfire and Beast Boy stood looking at her with fear clearly showing in their faces. Again, Jinx felt anger inside her that the two were too stupid, too spineless to do something for themselves. Throwing her hands up in frustration, she gave in. "Fine," she said. "I won't tell anyone…this time. But you'd better stay on my good side," she said suddenly, leaning toward them, "or else you might find that my tongue _accidentally…_slipped."

Beast Boy made his escape quickly, mumbling something about seeing Cyborg. Jinx shook her head at Starfire. "Jinx, I am…sorry?" Star ventured.

Jinx let out a frustrated sigh. "You can't do this," she said, a little more harshly than the occasion warranted. "It could have been anyone who found you two out. It could've been Slade!"

"I—I hadn't thought of—"

"Just…don't think of doing this again," Jinx said. Star nodded vigorously. "If you _must, _do it off St. Agnes's property." Again, more vigorous nods. "Now…come help me medicate Floor 3."

………………..

"_Doctor_ Robin," Slade said, as Robin slipped inside the other's office. Slade's autonomic voice took him by surprise: He had never heard Slade initiate an office conversation.

"Sir?" Robin replied. He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"Did I, or did I not, warn you to _stay away from Raven?_" said Slade, actually getting up from his leather chair and leaning forward on his mahogany desk.

Raven's description of him flashed into Robin's mind suddenly and he tried to repress a smile. "You did."

"And are you incapable of understanding English, or are you too thick to comprehend what I was saying?" Slade demanded. Robin took an involuntary step back. Slade was _angry, _he thought, and he was very scary when he was angry. This was not good.

"I understood _perfectly,_ sir," Robin said. His fists were clenched at his sides. Slade had a particular talent for almost effortlessly arousing his anger. "No one else knows her like I do, I can give her the understanding and care she needs to get better—" Slade hissed, cutting of Robin's impulsive speech.

"I told you specifically that you were not to be spending _an inordinate amount of time_ with her," Slade said. He glared at Robin through glinting eyes. "Do not deny it—I know exactly what I said. And I expect my orders to be followed. Expressly."

Robin closed his own eyes for a moment and relaxed his hands before continuing. "I joined St. Agnes's," he said, his voice very quiet and steady, "because I wanted to help people. Apparently you had no such idea in mind because you are repressing the entire purpose of St. Agnes's! I am one of your best psychiatrists and if I leave…."

Slade laughed. It was not a sound of mirth; rather, it was more like a loose piece of metal rattling inside an empty, tin casing. "You will not leave," Slade said, in a voice even more quiet than Robin's. Robin longed to fling back a retort but the truth of Slade's statement quieted him. "You will also not see Raven any longer. I will assign a new doctor to her."

Robin shook his head. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded. "What difference does it make what doctor she's got, as long as she has one, and as long as said doctor works to find a cure for her?"

"I see you looking at her," Slade said, and he sat back down. Robin's jaw dropped slightly at the changed nature of Slade's voice. It seemed, almost, to hold pity: an indelibly human expression. "You, Doctor, tend to be obsessive—and we can't afford you to obsess over one patient when there are so many others here, or that come to see you."

Robin could only stare at the chief doctor. Slade, this inhuman, cruel being; Slade, who seemed to have as many issues as most of the patients permanently interred; Slade, who never had regard for anyone save himself—this very same Slade was strangely alive, oddly human, and Robin looked at him as though he'd never seen Slade before. Slade, for possibly the first time, was acting like a _doctor._ It was this revelation that surprised a nod out of Robin, and a clear, "I will try not to spend too much time with her."

As he entered the brightly- lit hallway, however, his shock wore off, and he cursed himself for agreeing to Slade. For once, the man may have shown some sort of human emotion—compassion, pity—but it was not enough to redeem years of near- cruelty and aloofness. He knew he shouldn't directly disobey Slade's orders yet again, but Robin was determined to never let go of Raven.

………………….

It was that uncomfortable time of day when it's too bright outside that an artificial light bulb would be ineffectual, but too dark to see clearly by natural sunlight. Besides that, it was raining softly outside, the drops that hit the pavement drubbing out a gentle drumbeat. Raven sat with one of the books Robin had given her resting on her lap, staring out the window, with one hand lightly resting on the light switch. It had taken a little while to get used to not having her powers, although recently, she had been using them less and less. She knew they were supposed to be getting stronger but she controlled them so tightly that she could believe that she was absolutely _normal._

Well…normal relative to the inhabitants of Titans Tower, of course.

And not that she didn't embrace her powers and all…but sometimes they were simply too overwhelming, and summoning the strength to deal with them left her tired and irritable.

Robin let himself into her room and she stood up to meet him, a warm smile on her lips. She held up the book she was currently reading. "_Frankenstein_ is such an amazing work of literature!" she said eagerly. "Do you think—"

Robin chuckled but shut her off. "I'm not really supposed to do this," he murmured, "but I think you'll like this." He took her hand, keep it clasped loosely in his own, and led her to the door. After a quick check to ascertain that no one was approaching, he rapidly pulled her along behind him as he strode down hallways and staircases.

"Robin, where are we going?" asked Raven, easily keeping up with the doctor's long steps. She was looking about herself with curious eyes, since the first time she had come to St. Agnes's she had been in no condition to go on a sight-seeing tour.

Silently, he led her outside, and for a wild moment she allowed herself to believe that he was breaking her out, that he would take her to live with him and all would be better. But instead she found herself in the small, tidy garden she had noticed before.

He wasn't looking at her. "I thought you might like some fresh air," he said, looking around at the rosebushes. There were roses of all colors delineating a beautiful border for the garden: deepest red, lavender, yellow, peach, pink, white. The raindrops lingered on each full-headed bloom and Raven deeply inhaled the scent of fresh rain.

"Thank you," she said, equally quietly. She gestured expansively. "It's a very nice garden."

"Some of the more stable patients are allowed to cultivate little plots of their own," he said. "I'll try to get one for you but—"

"No, Robin, please don't," she said desperately. To have her own garden plot at St. Agnes's would make her feel as though she would be interred for a very long time, and she still held on to the hope that she would soon be out of the institute.

"I don't know if you'll be able to go home," Robin replied. "It's not up to me."

"I'm not crazy!"

"I know that, and _you_ know that," he said, "but the papers don't."

"You're not going to be my doctor any more in a while," she stated after a few minutes' pause.

"I've disobeyed Dr. Slade far too many times than is prudent," he said. "I'm sorry. But he's really the only one with enough authority to let you go, and I could argue for you but it's looking hopeless right now."

__

As long as you could stay with me, Robin, I could endure living the rest of my years here, she thought, but she didn't say anything out loud. They walked together around the garden, close, although their hands didn't touch. The rain was irrelevent; it was only a light drizzle and it made everything more lovely.

They had paused by the lavender rose bushes, since purple was her favorite color; and, as though there was a sort of silent communication between their minds, Robin leaned forward to Raven's anticipating mouth and kissed her then and there.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**__**

A/N: Finally, chapter 5. Although it might look shorter to you length-wise, it's actually a little over 3, 000 words, which is longer than any other previous chapter. I HAVE figured out what's up with Raven's being in an AltVerse **but it's NOTHING to do with Slade.** Speaking of whom: I hope you didn't feel I was being unncessarily sympathetic to him by endowing him with those human characteristics. Yet, I can't help but feel he's got some sort of good quality to him—although, if you'll notice, Robin did not _allow that to redeem Slade. So he's still mucho evil, don't worry. So…included some backstory here…a bit more about Star and BB…left off on the Cyborg front though. The kiss between Robin and Raven was supposed to be sudden—I'll go into details next chapter._

Thank you all SO MUCH—39 reviews for Chapter 4 means 39 huge smiles from me ) Thanks for sticking with this and through this: I appreciate it so much. Keep them coming! I'm really hoping you're enjoying this story.

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Chinxy, Ravens-Despair, CrimsonFire409, and Squeegee779, Daughter of the Equinox, Febreese: Thank you all so much for your super-sweet reviews! I hope you all also enjoyed this chapter; I personally liked it more than Chapter 4.

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ELM-Tree10 and AnnFaithDarknessGoddess: You've been with me from Chapter 1. Thanks so much! Raex Rob pairings _do_ rock and yes, I am rather proud of my 100+ reviews so far too ) All thanks to people like you.

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The Wings of a Raven: Thanks for reviewing. Ehhhh, I sort of lost interest in Speedy. If it means that much to you fans though…I can include him….

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Ravenrocksthedark: Wowie, glad you're not even a Rae x Rob fan and you still like this fic! Nice job on being open-minded; I know a lot of non-Ravin supporters have a bad rap as being close- minded ( But you're different so that's really neat!

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KidFlashIsHot: You're actually dangerously close to the truth! Thank you for not suggesting yet again that this is all Slade-induced. Nice job! And thank you so much for reviewing.

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Kirish: Naw man, whatever. I'm pretty chill about it actually since I'm a pretty chill person in general. Glad you're liking the story though )

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Samisweet: Yeah most people here are (Cauc)Asian, but back in my younger days when I wrote anime, I met a surprising large amount of Desis, including some South Indians, which was cool. Nice to meet you!

People please lay off on the cookies and cupcakes: I'm really trying to go on a diet!


	6. The Finale: Kiss From A Rose

A Garden of Roses

Chapter 6: The Finale: Kiss From a Rose

Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,  
The more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah  
And now that your rose is in bloom  
A light hits the gloom on the grey.

Seal, Kiss From a Rose

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Robin was surprised at the ease of their movements. How well his tongue seemed to know her mouth! How neatly his arms fit around her, how perfectly her petite form molded to his body. And _how_ she responded! With an eagerness that he hadn't expected, as though she were trying to devour him, capture his essence and take some of it for herself.

The roses were a silent witness to this moment of passionate abandon. This was the moment Raven had been waiting for: free to indulge herself as much as she cared to. She pressed up against him, ran her hands through his hair. It felt cool and silky through her fingers, as though she were sifting water; a part of her brain was still able to register this fact. She suddenly tried to deepen the kiss even more, ignoring her lungs, wishing she could take up a bit of his soul and keep it for herself.

Robin looked into her eyes fondly, their sharp golden hue softened. He managed a small smile. "What about Aqua Lad?" he murmured.

Raven cast him a blank look, before she suddenly remembered. A blush mantled her cheeks. "I…never really went out with him," she said sheepishly. "I just told you that…because it was …painful for me—"

"We were…together…_before?_" Robin said, correctly guessing Raven's incomplete thought. Raven nodded, biting her lip. Their mental connection was something she had always reveled in, when she was still back at the Tower.

Raven smiled slightly. "It took us almost three years," she said softly. "You were always with Starfire. Everyone really expected it, you know."

"So you never dated Aqua Lad?" Robin asked hopefully.

"Nor Beast Boy nor Cyborg," Raven replied, her voice quiet. She glanced up into his eyes, meeting them, encouraged by their sparkle.

"Good, because then I can do this—" and so saying, he leaned down and kissed her furiously once more.

………

There is so much a man can tell you  
So much he can say  
You remain: my power, my pleasure, my pain  
Baby, to me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny  
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?

………

Gar Logan waited impatiently in front of Cyborg's desk. "Where is he?" Beast Boy demanded.

"I dunno, man!" Cyborg retorted, repeatedly punching the same series of numbers into a beeper. "He's not responding to his beeper." He cursed as realization hit him, square in the stomach. "Aw shit," he cursed in exasperation, throwing down his beeper. Robin had gone off and was at this moment _canoodling_ with a patient, and what's more, with one Slade had _expressly_ forbidden him to see! "Dr. Wilson's gonna have Robin's head for this," he muttered.

Beast Boy dropped on all fours and arched his back, hissing like a cat. Cyborg ignored him. "Now, I like Robin and all," he said, "but he's always so damned _obsessive_ about everything. And it's gonna get him in trouble one day—probably today…"

Gizmo came whizzing up to him at that moment. "Dr. Wilson says please to see Dr. Greyson," he said, in an overly unctuous and innocent voice. The message and Gizmo's tone indicated that both knew of Robin's illegal date.

"Shut up, you little weasel," Cyborg said sharply. He had _never_ liked the kid…and on top of that, where had Beast Boy gotten to? He cursed again under his breath, Gizmo looking triumphant and Cyborg's obvious discomfiture. "Why's it always gotta be _me_?" he cried.

"He's waiting," said Gizmo in a high singsong.

"I'll get him," Cyborg muttered, leaving his chair for the gardens. "And when I get my hands on him—" He made a violent motion in midair, just barely missing Jinx. She sighed—his anger made him so narrow-sighted that he missed even saying hello to her, again, once more, she supposed she should have been used to it by now but she unfortunately found she wasn't.

Her state of mind was not helped by the entrance of Karen Beecher, swinging her hips and pursing her full mouth in surprise that Cyborg wasn't there. She looked imperiously at Jinx, who only glared back in hostility.

"Where'd Cy go?" Karen asked in her honey voice. Jinx had had enough.

"You call him _Cy?_" Jinx exclaimed. "All right, listen up, hunny! I don't know _who_ you think you are but Cyborg's _mine,_ you hear?"

Beast Boy, crouched on all fours, howled like a wolf.

…….

Now that your rose is in bloom  
A light hits the gloom on the grey

……..

Slade was angry. Angrier than anyone had ever seen him before. He strode powerfully to the doors, almost ripped them open, bounded outside. He went over to Robin and Raven, oblivious to the impending danger, and seizing Robin, pulled him off her violently.

"What do you think you are doing?" Slade demanded, his voice dangerously low.

"Dr. Wilson, listen—"

"I told you," Slade said, his breath coming uneven and shallow. "_I told you _specifically to stay. Away. From. Her." He enunciated each word clearly, making each a different sentence. "I will _not_ have my orders directly disobeyed."

Robin pulled away from him, stepping closer to Raven. "No, _you_ listen, Slade," Robin said, his own voice deceptively calm and low. "Who are you to give orders like that? I'm treating this patient, this is what I'm here for! She's shown so much improvement—"

"Relationships between doctors and patients are strictly forbidden!" Slade yelled. Robin started in surprise—he had never heard that cool, mechanical voice raised in anger. "Not only that, but you _disobeyed my direct orders_. I cannot run this hospital with people like you always slowing me down, going whichever way you please!"

Raven tugged at the back of Robin's shirt. "Robin," she said quietly, "let this go, it's no use fighting Slade. Just…walk away."

"I never turn my back on a fight," Robin told her. He faced Slade squarely and met the other's eyes.

"I'm afraid there _is_ no fight, Robin," Slade said, his voice back to normal, or as normal as it could ever be. There was a peculiar smile lurking about the corners of his thin mouth. It occurred to Raven just then that _all_ evil people invariably had thin- lipped mouths, whether in fairytales or in real life.

"You see—" triumph was dripping from Slade's every word; Raven would have sworn the man was positively happy. "You see, Robin, _I_ am in charge here, not you, and if I say you go…you go."

Robin shook his head once, licked his lips, and then lunged for his boss. "Robin, no!" Raven shouted, afraid that the scuffle would break them apart once more.

Cyborg was trying to restrain Robin while Jinx attempted to sooth Slade…Cyborg was taking Robin away….

"Robin! Robin, where are you going? Robin….Robin…Robin…"

…

She awoke suddenly to find a concerned face bare inches from her own. "Hey," Robin said quietly, smoothing her violet hair with his hand. "Shhh, Raven, what happened? I'm right here."

Disconcerted, Raven rapidly glanced around. Robin leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on her lips. "Robin, what happened? One moment you were fighting Slade and Cyborg was pulling you away and…"

"Raven, I've been here the whole time," he assured her. "You've been asleep for the past hour. You must have had a bad dream."

"I was alone in a mental asylum," Raven said, "and then you were my doctor and Slade said you couldn't see me and then you fought him and then…I woke up." Robin kissed her softly again and pulled back, looking at her lovingly.

"You're with me now," Robin said, embracing her.

_You're with me now._

**_Fin_**

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

**__**

**_A/N: _**_So, the _very_ short but, nonetheless ( I hope) fulfilling finale to _A Garden of Roses. _I really thank you all for sticking with me throughout these months and making this my most popular story ever. It was always so amazing to read your reviews! I hope you've enjoyed my writing and this little story. So finally it's resolved: it was all just a dream! Hope that wasn't too anticlimactic for you all._

_If you did, in fact, enjoy this story, I recommend you try my latest Rae/Rob adventure, _An Honest Mistake. _It's a one-shot but it's still the piece that, I feel, represents my apex of maturity as a writer._

**Kirish, selfless, and the other ones of you who: **Guessed that it was a dream! Thanks a million for sticking around with me and reading this story.

**Velvet Death: **When I saw you had reviewed _An Honest Mistake_ I swear my eyes just popped and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it! Thank you so much for your review: it means 100 times more coming from such an amazing and accomplished author as you.

**ELM-Tree10: **Wowie, it's a great compliment to be the top 2 on your favorites list! Thank you so much.

**Chinxy: **hope you had an awesome birthday—consider this a belated gift.

**AnnFaithDarknessGoddess: **You've been with me since Chapter 1: hope you think this chapter, though short, is even better than the last.

**Samisweet: **Yes, I do know. Boo (

**Cutter-with-a-cause and all the others who were wondering: **I really hope that you found this explanation fulfilling.

And now, finally…I'm out.


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